Mortal Kombat: Substance
by NEM3SIS
Summary: This is the third part of a trilogy which plays in an alternate universe. It's the story of the battle against Blaze/The One, and it's a story about a war that could devastate all realms. Welcome to Armageddon!


**CHAPTER 1: TABULA RASA**

_**Palace of Souls, Edenia**_

The warriors walked through the long corridor towards the large metal gate. None of them spoke a word. Shujinko took the place of the leader and walked in the front row. The rest of them marched two by two in a line behind him. Bo' Rai Cho and Li Mei walked behind the aged general; they were followed by Kenshi and Ermac. At the end were Kitana and Havik, the presently highest member of the Clerics of Chaos, the priests the young princess had detested so much during her childhood.

When they approached the gate, it opened automatically and with an eerie sound. The warriors stepped through and found themselves in a large throne hall. Sunrays fell through a dome of colorful glass, which rose high above the heads of the warriors, forming colorful patterns on the floor like in a gigantic kaleidoscope. At the other end of the hall they could see a high throne. At the center of the hall was a platform with six pillars of dark marble. On each of the pillars floated one of the six Kamidogu, as if they were held by magic. Other than that, the hall was empty and completely silent.

"Onaga is not here," remarked Kitana.

"Maybe he fled," mumbled Li Mei.

"It doesn't matter," said Havik. "We can take care of him later. First of all, we have to destroy the Kamidogu."

"No!" replied Shujinko in a sharp tone. "If we do that, the essence of The One will be set free. This must not happen under any circumstances!"

"We have no choice!" said Havik. "Onaga gets his power and his strength from those artifacts. If this goes on, he'll soon be invincible!"

Just when Shujinko was about to give another reply, Bo' Rai Cho cut him short.

"Hey, do you guys hear that?" he asked.

Shujinko and Havik fell silent and listened. Bo' Rai Cho was right. They all could hear heavy footsteps. But none of the fighters could tell, where exactly the steps came from. All they knew was that they were drawing near. They were getting louder with every second; even the ground was shaking.

"It's him, he's coming back," whispered Kitana. She opened her fans and held them like protecting shields in front of her chest. The others pulled their weapons, too and turned their faces towards the large door. Only Kenshi remained motionless and listened carefully.

"Onaga won't come through that door," he finally said. "He's on the roof!"

Just as his words ended, they heard a deafening crash. The warriors had just enough time to jump back to avoid being hit by the dropping glass shards. And before they could stand up, they felt something heavy landed in the room. Where they stood before, was now Onaga. He had smashed the glass dome above them and then jumped through the open space. He held a big bronze gong with his left claws and used it as a shield. Shujinko immediately recognized it. It was the gong of the temple where he had started his training as a young boy. To the monks of the temple it was one of the most valuable things they possessed. They would never have let Onaga to take it away from its place without resistance. And it was then that it came to Shujinko's mind that Onaga didn't just destroy his enemies, but also their friends and allies without hesitation.

"So, some of you really made it here," Onaga said sarcastically. "I don't know if I should admire your courage or laugh about your folly!"

"Enough of this nonsense!" shouted Bo' Rai Cho. "Li Mei, let's attack!"

The martial arts master of Outworld had stood idly by, when Shao Kahn had spoiled his realm. Many times he had told his allies that he couldn't change anything anyway. But the truth was that he liked liquor way too much. And the more he drank, the less he was able and willing to fight. But this had to end. He wouldn't accept any other tyrant trying to take over the realms anymore.

He gripped his staff with both hands and aimed at Onaga's unprotected right arm. At the same time Li Mei had pulled her sword and attacked Onaga's left shoulder from behind. Although he had a very large and heavy body, his movements were not slow at all. When he saw that he was attacked from two sides, he whirled around and paraded Bo' Rai Cho's attack with the gong. At the same time he slightly turned his body, just enough to escape the sword stab.

When Li Mei attempted to challenge the Deadly Alliance, she lost her Sai-daggers and almost her life along with them. But she found a new weapon: the Kunlun straight sword. It had a perfect length and was light enough for fast attacking and defending maneuvers; yet she soon found herself in disadvantage. Although Onaga wasn't using a real weapon, he began to swing the gong in front of his body as if it was made of paper. If he succeeded in hitting Li Mei with it, her sword certainly wouldn't have been the only thing breaking. And so the girl from Outworld evaded more and more, until she was almost standing with her back to the wall.

Shujinko realized that the girl from Outworld was seriously in danger. He pulled his sword and went to aid her. At the same time, Havik drew his weapon, the morning star, a spiked iron ball connected to a wooden bar by a chain. Together with Shujinko he attacked the Dragon King, again from two sides. Onaga turned away from Li Mei to defend himself from the new attackers.

The Dragon King suddenly attacked with his left fist, aiming for Shujinko's face. The old man had to lean far back with his upper body in order to dodge that punch. At the same time he had to stretch his arms forward to keep his balance. He didn't know that it was just a feint; just then Onaga kicked out with his left foot and hit Shujinko by his wrist, and his sword went flying in a high bow out of his hand.

But the fact that he just lost his weapon didn't concern Shujinko. Since his youth he learned to use weapons as well as unarmed fighting styles. He went into the initial stance of the Mantis style: he put his weight back on his left leg, attacked with an attack his right hand, followed directly by a powerful and quick punch with the other fist. But once again Onaga managed to dodge by slightly turning his body.

"Nice attack!" said Onaga with an evil grin in his face. "It's almost too bad!"

"What are you trying to say?" asked Shujinko.

"It's too bad that you turned against me," answered Onaga. "Just imagine what you could have achieved with your skills, what we could have achieved together!"

"I have already wasted my entire life just to increase your power," replied Shujinko, his voice trembled in anger. "I'm sorry, but nothing you can ever give me is what I desire!"

He aimed at Onaga in a quick succession of three punches. The Dragon King evaded backwards and turned his left arm, in which he held his shield. Two dull sounds could be heard, when Shujinko's fist met the gong.

Princess Kitana realized that although four of her allies were fighting with combined force, they still were no match for Onaga. She gave a sign to Ermac, and together they attacked from behind. Ermac's weapon was a heavy war axe, which he wielded with ease. While his way of fighting was very offensive, Kitana concentrated more on her defense and evasion. The spokes of her fans were made of steel and had sharp blades attached to them. When the fans were closed, Kitana could use them like long sticks, and when she opened them, the blades were revealed, turning the fans into cutting weapons. Furthermore she was able to use her fans to hit the opponent's acupuncture spots to gain an advantage that way.

The dragon king whirled around with his shield, leaving no space for any kind of attacks. But on the other hand, he was only able to move his left arm freely. He had to do all attacks with it and defend his left side with it. Furthermore he had to carry the stolen gong, which slowed him down drastically. All this could turn to a lethal trap in a fight where one fought against many.

Onaga knew he was in a disadvantage. While he blocked the attacks, his eyes kept searching for a chance to retaliate. All six opponents that he fought were strong enemies; all of them were determined to kill the Dragon King. If he didn't counterattack soon, he would lose his life sooner or later, it was just a question of time.

And then he saw his chance coming. The cleric Havik approached him to a single arm length. Without warning his paw shot forward and attacked in a series of strikes, in which he used his fist as well as his palm. His aim was Havik's chest.

Although Havik was known as a scholar, he has trained his body since his youth and achieved some extraordinary abilities. When he saw Onaga striking, he knew that it was too late to evade the attack. Instead he concentrated his Neijin and stemmed his shoulder against his strike. There was a loud crack, and Havik's shoulder was clearly dislocated.

When Kitana realized that Onaga had succeeded in injuring one of the allies, she unfolded her steel fans and attacked to prevent the opponent from gaining more ground. Havik on the other hand wasn't that severely injured after all. He stood up straight-faced and pulled his shoulder back to the original position with his own hand.

"Was that the sum of your might, Onaga?" he taunted. "That was less than a scratch!"

Onaga didn't waste his breath to give a reply. He had succeeded to derange the plan of his opponents, albeit it was for a short time. He used his chance and continued his attacks. His paw snapped forward and unerringly snatched at Ermac's weapon. Before the red ninja could even make a sound, his ax was already held fastened by the Dragon King; and now he pulled at the weapon with all his strength. Ermac wasn't prepared to this maneuver and was pulled along with it. Meanwhile the Dragon King turned his body slightly, evaded Kitana's and Havik's attack and aimed with his fist for Ermac's head.

Bo' Rai Cho and Li Mei both saw that their ally was in peril; they jumped into the air at the same time, with their weapons pointed towards Onaga's head. He could only dodge to the side and let Ermac escape his attack. But nonetheless he was able to kick into Ermac's side in one careless moment. The red ninja fell to the ground, unable to stand up again.

When Kenshi noticed that his friend and mentor had been injured, he pulled his Katana and ran onto the battlefield. At that moment Ermac called out for him: "Kenshi, use your projectiles! First, aim for the Holding, and then shoot the Small Exceeding!" His voice has just faded, when two blue light dots flew towards Onaga. One was pointed towards his chest, the other one to his haunch.

Onaga was caught by surprise. Never before had he seen a blind man who was able to handle projectiles with such effectiveness. Even though he had a helper, who told him the acupuncture spots he had to hit, it afforded great skills to aim with such accurateness. Kenshi had learned during long training sessions to form projectiles, which caused no open injuries, but still were able to knock out an unprepared adversary, as they were shot out at high speed and had a paralyzing effect. Onaga swiftly turned around and blocked the projectiles with his shield. They hit the metal and made a hollow sound. The shield vibrated under the impact.

"This blind man is not to be underestimated," Onaga thought. "His Neijin is extraordinarily strong!"

Meanwhile Bo' Rai Cho, Li Mei, Shujinko, Kitana and Havik were pushed into one side of the room. Ermac continued to give Kenshi instructions. When they met in the Wastelands of Outworld, they had practiced the method of working and fighting together. Since that time they had brought their technique as a tag team to perfection.

"Attack the Returning, afterwards the Clinging. Now he's in the Great Exceeding..."

Kenshi memorized the instructions and immediately shot out his projectiles with such precision as if he could see. Within a few seconds he shot out more than ten of the blue sparks. Onaga was pressed into defending himself, so that he wasn't able to attack. But still he could fend of all of the projectiles; none of them could injure him.

Suddenly Kenshi realized the weakness of their technique: Every time Ermac called out something, Onaga could hear it as well. And as he had knowledge about the acupressure spots, too, he could always react to the attacks. At that very moment, he heard Ermac call out to him again:

"Quick! Attack the Fellowship!"

But this time the blind swordsman ignored the instruction from his companion. Instead he rapidly shot out four sparks. Two of them were aimed at the right side of the dragon king, the third one at his neck and the fourth at his heart. Onaga made a big leap to the left and was able to evade three of them, but was hit by the fourth. At the same time Kenshi heard a shocked cry: one of the projectiles, which Onaga evaded, had now hit Li Mei in her chest.

"Come to me, Li Mei!" shouted Kenshi. His voice was concerned.

The girl from Outworld squeezed herself pass Onaga. When she stood close to Kenshi, he swiftly pressed some spots on her back. "Get out of here," he said. "Try to relax and don't make big moves, otherwise you could be paralyzed permanently."

Onaga, although hit by one of the projectile, didn't feel much pain. But suddenly realized his arm was slowly getting numb. The shield was getting heavier and heavier. If it was true what had just heard, it was most likely for him getting killed in this battle. But he knew a way out of this fatal situation: He was still in control of the six Kamidogu, the source of unlimited power. All he had to do is to reach the platform where there were placed.

Shujinko noticed what the Dragon King had in mind and tried to block his way. But Onaga was injured and therefore more determined than ever, he attacked Shujinko with a punch to his chest. The general tried to block with his chi, but Onaga had put all his strength in this one strike. Shujinko's vision went blurry and the metallic taste of blood came up his throat. He staggered for some seconds and fell to the ground.

Although Onaga had managed to knock out another one of his enemies, he could feel his strength leaving him second by second. Soon the gong became to heavy for him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bo' Rai Cho trying to start another attack from his unprotected side.

"Not so fast!" shouted Onaga and tossed the gong at Bo' Rai Cho. The master saw it coming but had nowhere to hide. Instinctively he threw himself to the floor and covered his head with his hands. The huge metal gong landed on the master martial arts, where he remained.

Having knocked out three of seven attackers, Onaga was filled with self-confidence. He made a great leap and landed on the platform, just in the middle of the six pillars. He stretched his arms towards the ceiling and began to absorb the energy coming from the Kamidogu in the shape of rainbow-colored light-beams. Immediately he felt his strength recovering, and the numbness of his arm slowly went away. His body began to glow as the energy went into his body.

"Destroy the Kamidogu now!" screamed Havik.

Kenshi shot out another three projectiles; they hit the Kamidogu and made them burst into pieces like glasses falling to the ground. Kitana jumped into the air and threw her fans; they flew in a big circle and destroyed the remaining three Kamidogu. At the very moment the Kamidogu were destroyed there was an eerie sound like a storm playing on a huge pipe. The six light-beams fused into a single one and escaped through the shattered glass ceiling. Now that Onaga's source of power had been destroyed, he was more vulnerable than ever. With a loud howl he too jumped through the ceiling and disappeared.

"Should we follow him?" asked Kitana.

"No," answered Kenshi. "He won't been coming back any time soon anyway. Let's look after our wounded friends and see if we can help them."

_**Same time, another place**_

At first Shujinko wasn't even sure if he was still alive or already dead. He found himself lying on the ground and starring into the night sky. He didn't know where he was or how he even came here. He stood up and began to analyze his surrounding. First he found out that he was on a construction of some kind. He was standing on a square-shaped platform consisting of shiny marble plates. He then walked to the edge of the platform and saw a long stairway leading down. He couldn't see where it ended, as it was half enshrouded by thick clouds.

"Where the hell am I?" muttered Shujinko.

"No worries, you're safe here", said a friendly voice from behind.

Shujinko turned around, but there was no one behind him. All that he could see was a big bonfire burning in the middle of the platform. Shujinko approached it carefully, and while he got closer, the bonfire changed its form and slowly transformed into a man with a red glowing body. He seemed to consist of lava.

"I… I met you before, you are Blaze," said Shujinko. But he couldn't recall the place or the incidence they met.

"That's right," answered the glowing man. "We met before. You helped me out when I lost my memory. Now it's time for me to repay you."

"I don't understand," said Shujinko. "Where am I?"

"Your body is wounded, it needs some rest," answered the glowing man. "Your spirit is now on the top of the Pyramid of Argus. But as I said before: You don't have to worry. Everything will turn out right."

"Fine," said Shujinko, but his mind was still on alert. Something told him not to trust Blaze. "You were talking about repaying me. What did you mean?"

"Ah yes," said Blaze and laughed. "I can see you are still the same: always coming straight to the point and never losing precious time." He laughed again. "Well, during my long journey I've learned a lot about human nature. There I discovered a contradiction. Your kind is always trying to reach perfection, even though you know that you'll never succeed. That is something I don't quite understand. Why is that so?"

"Because we always want to learn," answered Shujinko. "This is the way we improve ourselves."

"Interesting," said Blaze. "That's what I thought. And is it the same reason why all human hold their individuality so precious?"

"Yes, that's right," said Shujinko who felt more and more uncomfortable.

"But isn't that a contradiction?" asked Blaze. "Aren't you making two mistakes at once? The first one is that you want be perfect, which you can never achieve. The second mistake is your longing for individuality. Isn't that rather a defect?"

"Individuality does not stand in conflict with perfection," said Shujinko.

"Yes, it does," replied Blaze. "Only when all beings are working together, only when they're acting as one, only then they can reach perfection. Only then they're strong. The more individual ideas a society has, the more conflicts there are, and the weaker the society is."

"Humans are able to overcome conflicts."

"Not so if they have desires," said Blaze. "And humans do have desires. And if the desire is strong enough, they would do anything for it."

"That's nonsense," said Shujinko. "Why are we even having this conversation?"

"Let's make a deal," said Blaze. "Let me prove it to you. Should I succeed in proving to you that I was right, that individuality necessarily leads to corruption and failure, you have to fight for me. If I fail or if you give me the prove that individuality is precious, I shall fulfill your greatest wish."

"I'm not interested in competing in a Mortal Kombat – tournament," replied Shujinko. "Not anymore."

Blaze smirked. It was a devilish grin. For a second Shujinko believed to see something absolutely evil in Blaze's eyes.

"I wasn't talking about Mortal Kombat," said Blaze. "Do you still remember your friend who ate rotten food? You tried to save him, but you failed, and he died. In all these years you could never forget him. What if you had just tried a little harder? Would you have saved his life?"

Shujinko's face turned pale. "How do you know about that?"

"That's not important," answered Blaze. "But anyways, if I fail to convince you about the mistake of men, I will bring back your friend. Not even that, I would rewind your whole life for you. You would never have lost your friend, never have spent all those years in the Seidan prison, and you could still compete in Mortal Kombat. You could start your life from new. So what do you say, do we have a deal?"

Although something inside of him warned Shujinko, he agreed.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that," said Blaze. "You have to return now, but we will meet again in due time!" He turned around and walked away. Shujinko's vision went blurry again, he tried to resist the dizziness he felt, but he didn't have a chance. He fell to the floor again.

_**Palace of Souls**_

"Hey! He's regaining consciousness!"

Shujinko opened his eyes and saw Kitana kneeling at his side. Immediately after she called out, the others came by and surrounded him like curious onlookers of a car-crash. To his surprise he saw all six companions. And those who had been injured in the battle with Onaga seemed to have recovered wondrously.

"Are you okay?" asked Kitana.

"Yes, I think so," answered Shujinko. Like the others, he too seemed to have entirely recovered. "What happened? How come that you're not injured anymore?"

"We don't know," answered Ermac. "We only remember that we passed out, and that we had a dream while we were unconscious."

"What kind of dream?" asked Shujinko.

"We dreamt that we turned back to independent individuals," said Ermac. "And everyone of us had a separate body…"

"I had a dream, too," Li Mei interrupted him. "I dreamt I was married to a really gentle and kind man. He treated me like I was a queen, and I felt so happy with him." She sighed. "Too bad I had to wake up."

"Who is it? Do we know him?" asked Kitana curiously.

"That's a secret," replied Li Mei. After a while she added: "You're quite nosey for a princess."

"Don't call me nosey," complained Kitana.

"And you, Master Bo' Rai Cho? Did you also have a dream?" asked Shujinko.

"Oh yes!" said Bo' Rai Cho. "I dreamt that I was the champion of Mortal Kombat. The people held a celebration just for me. They brought the best food and the most expensive liquor for me…" He laughed. "Too bad it was just a dream!"

"What about you, General?" asked Kitana. "What was your dream?"

"I can't remember," said Shujinko.

"Oh, come on! Don't be such a grinch!" said the princess.

"Are you still trying to tell us you're not nosey?" Li Mei continued to tease Kitana.

"That's all unimportant right now," Havik reminded them. "We shouldn't stay here too long, Onaga could still return after all. Let's leave. We can talk later on."

"Yes, he's right," said Shujinko and stood up. He was a little stiff, but other than that, he felt extremely good. "Let's leave this place."

As they made their way back to Master Bo' Rai Cho's academy, Shujinko couldn't stop thinking about his dream. Did he really meet Blaze? Was he the one who healed the others? Was he a friend or an enemy? And what was he planning? Shujinko wanted to find it out as soon as possible. After all, he was the one Blaze challenged personally.


End file.
